Another Target Drone Explodes in Florida

Drone outfitted fighter-bomber aircraft crash near Panama City, Fla. Luckily, exploding is what they do best.

UAV explosions are strangely becoming a commonplace sight for residents in the Florida panhandle region, as two UAVs operating out of Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Fla., have crashed within the last week.

On July 10, the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group destroyed a QF-4 drone on its return to base. A press release stated that the drone "had to be destroyed for safety considerations during its return to base following a routine operation." Today, almost exactly one week later, another QF-4 Phantom encountered complications during takeoff and crashed on the runway.

Both drones carry a self-destruct system so the military could destroy them remotely if necessary, but no one was hurt in either mishap. Still, authorities said they would close Highway 98, which runs through the heart of the base, for at least 24 hours to assess the damage to the plane and to the internal self-destruct device.

As the name would suggest, the QF-4 is based upon the F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber that saw heavy duty during the Vietnam War. The "Q" designation means it was converted to a drone. The QF-4, like its drone predecessor that was outfitted from a F-106 Delta Dart, provides aerial simulation and acts a realistic target for air-to-air weapon systems. Basically, these planes are seeing a painful retirement as moving targets.

Pilots on the ground can fly the QF-4 remotely during takeoff and landing. The drone can fly totally by computer once it's airborne, the Air Force says. As a safety precaution, these outfitted Vietnam fighter-bomber aircraft include a self-destruct device in case the plane abandons its flight path or becomes a risk in any other way. It's still unclear whether this recent drone mishap is human or mechanical error.

Although two incidents in two weeks is cause for alarm concerning drone safety, outfitting old fighter planes into target drones isn't anything new. Currently 86 QF-4s remain on the active force, and have served in full-scale aerial target practice since 1997. The old F-4 airframes are expected to finally retire this year or next as they are replaced by drone versions of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, to be dubbed the QF-16.

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